Yahoo Finance Reach's (LON:RCH) Dividend Will Be £0.0288
Reach plc (LON:RCH) has announced that it will pay a dividend of £0.0288 per share on the 22nd of September. Based on this payment, the dividend yield on the company's stock will be 8.7%, which is an attractive boost to shareholder returns.
See our latest analysis for Reach
Reach's Dividend Is Well Covered By Earnings
If the payments aren't sustainable, a high yield for a few years won't matter that much. The last dividend made up quite a large portion of free cash flows, and this was made worse by the lack of free cash flows. Generally, we think that this would be a risky long term practice.
Looking forward, earnings per share is forecast to rise by 98.5% over the next year. If the dividend continues on this path, the payout ratio could be 38% by next year, which we think can be pretty sustainable going forward.
Reach's Dividend Has Lacked Consistency
Even in its relatively short history, the company has reduced the dividend at least once. This makes us cautious about the consistency of the dividend over a full economic cycle. Since 2014, the annual payment back then was £0.0288, compared to the most recent full-year payment of £0.0734. This implies that the company grew its distributions at a yearly rate of about 11% over that duration. It is great to see strong growth in the dividend payments, but cuts are concerning as it may indicate the payout policy is too ambitious.
The Dividend Looks Likely To Grow
With a relatively unstable dividend, it's even more important to see if earnings per share is growing. It's encouraging to see that Reach has been growing its earnings per share at 35% a year over the past five years. EPS is growing rapidly, although the company is also paying out a large portion of its profits as dividends. If earnings keep growing, the dividend may be sustainable, but generally we'd prefer to see a fast growing company reinvest in further growth.
Our Thoughts On Reach's Dividend
Overall, we don't think this company makes a great dividend stock, even though the dividend wasn't cut this year. While Reach is earning enough to cover the payments, the cash flows are lacking. We would probably look elsewhere for an income investment.
Market movements attest to how highly valued a consistent dividend policy is compared to one which is more unpredictable. At the same time, there are other factors our readers should be conscious of before pouring capital into a stock. For example, we've picked out 4 warning signs for Reach that investors should know about before committing capital to this stock. If you are a dividend investor, you might also want to look at our curated list of high yield dividend stocks.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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